A cobpobation of dela



April 26, 1932. c. A. DlsaRow 1,855,945

IBTHOD OF' REFORKING RAIL JOINT BARS Filed Jan. '7, 1930 gwuustos Clarkson vliabrow,

Mrnluzmf www Patented Apr. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLARKSON A. DISBROW, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAIL JOINT REFORMING- COMPANY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE METHOD 0F BEFOBMING RAIL JOINT BARS Application filed January 7, 1930. Serial No. 419,098.

This invention relates to rail joint bars, and has particular reference to the reforming of such bars to compensate for wear.

Because of the constant pounding of car wheels over a rail joint, the joint bars eventually become hammered and worn to such an extent as to render them unfit for continued main track service. Both the head and the base fishing surfaces of the rails as well as the corresponding fishing surfaces of the bar are subjected to wear. but maximum and material wear usually takes place within a short distance extending inward from the end of each rail, the ends of the joint bar being subjected to little or no wear. Moreover, the wear on the base fishing surfaces of the rail and the bar is comparatively slight and maximum wear occurs on the head fishing surfaces. at the ends of the rail and medially of the bar as previously stated.

To compensate for wear, the practice has developed of reforming used joint bars either to restore the fishing surfaces thereof to their original condition to adapt the bars for use with new or resawed rails. or to crown such surfaces to adapt the bars for use with relayer or worn rails.

In reforming worn rail joint bars it has been the practice heretofore to subject the bar to enormous pressure between dies to displace metal throughout or substantially throughout the height and length of the bar, thereby to produce a flow of metal into the worn surfaces of the bar either to restore such surfaces to their original condition or to crown them as may be desired. There are, however, many serious objections and disadvantages inherent to this general prior practice. In the first place. large powerful presses are required to develop the pressure necessary to produce the required flow of metal in the bar. while in the second place the bar is subjected to various harmful stresses and strains likelyto produce serious defects therein. Moreover. the dies. necessarily of large size and weight. possess only relatively slim-t life and are extremely expensive.

Accordingly. the general .object of the present invention is to provide a. practical wear compensating redistribution of the metal of a joint bar which may be effected simply and accurately by means of relatively inexpensive dies and by minimum pressure and without setting up harmful stresses and strains in the bar, all to the end of providing a reformed bar of minimum production cost and which is thoroughly reliable and efcient in use.

.Vith the foregoing and other objects in yiew, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention consists in the novel construction and in the novel combination and arrangement of features as will be lieremafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the ap ended claims.

Int e drawings, wherein are illustrated practical embodiments of the invention and wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the diiferent views Figure 1 is a perspective view of a joint bar reformed in accordance with the present invention to com nsate for wear.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a slightly alternative embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 is an end view of the bar; and

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating more clearly the relation of different portions of the fishing surface of a bar capable of being effected in accordance with the invention.

The joint bar illustrated in the drawings is of a well known type and is representative of a wide variety of different types in which the present improvements may be incorporated, said bar. designated generally as A, being inclusive in this instance of a web 10. a head 1l and a foot flange 12.

As heretofore stated, maximum and material wear of the bar A takes place within a limited portion of the length of the fishing surface 13 at the top of the head 11 of the liar medially thereof. this wear being inclicated by the dotted line 14 in Fig. 4 of the drawings, by reference to which iigure it will be observed that, where medially worn, the surface 13 is disposed below the plane of the comparatively unworn portions to either side thereof, indicated by the dot and dash line 13B.

The problem, of course, is to elevate the medially worn portion of the surface 13 either to or above the plane of the end or relatively` unworn portions of said surface, depending upon whether the reformed bar is to be used with new or resawed rail, or with relayer or worn rail, it being necessary in the latter instance, as is understood, to elevate the worn portion of the surface 13 above the unworn end portions thereof, to compensate for wear on the rails, this being known in the art as crowning the head l1.

In solving the problem the present invention contemplates the general prior practice of subjecting the bar to die pressure. Instead, however, of following the prior practice of subjecting the bar to die ressure throughout or substantially throug out its height and length, or in fact, in any way causing metal to flow from the body of the bar in an outward direction to till out the worn portion thereof, a radical departure from this practice is contemplated by the present invention consisting in exerting an inward die pressure against the surface 13 to either side of the worn or depressed portion thereof to effect a shift or flow of the metal adjacent to said surface longitudinally of the bar and towards the center thereof. In other words, by means of suitable pressure operated dies, a depression or depressions is or are formed in the fishing surface 13 to either side of the depression in said surface roduced by wear so that the metal displaced by said die formed depressions is crowded longitudinally of the bar towards the wear produced depression therein to fill the latter. This obviously may be accomplished in different ways, as illustrated in.A

Fig. 1 for example, by providing only a single die formed depression 15 to either side of the depression produced by wear or, as illustrated in Fig. 2 for example, by providing any desired plurality of die formed depressions 15 to each side of the depression produced by wear. Thus, by means of simple, inexpensive dies and by minimum pressure not only may the worn portion of the surface 13 be elevated to or beyond the plane of the unworn portions of said surface without subjecting the bar to harmful stresses and strains, but at the same time the advantage is gained of providing for intermittent contact of the reformed bar with the rails, which minimizes the area of the friction surfaces and therefore permits greater freedom of movement of the rails due to temperature changes. Also, the bar is rendered more flexible and adaptable to the rail wave motion than in the case of an ordinary bar.

Worn joint bars may vary considerably as regards the extent of the area in which wear has taken place. In some cases the wear may be relatively slight, extending only a short distance to either side of the center of the bar, while in other cases the worn surfaces may extend a considerably' greater distance to either side of the center of the bar. Therefore, in reforming according to the present invention, the new bearing areas and the depressed areas may extend considerably beyond the limits of the depressions caused by wear, and the claims should be interpreted in this light.

Ordinarily, due to the relatively slight amount of wear on the base fishing surfaces of the bar and the rails, reforming of the head of a worn bar is sufficient to recondition the bar for renewed service. In instances, however, where the base fishing surface of the bar is appreciably worn this surface obviously may be reconditioned in the same manner as herein described with respect to the head fishing surface.

lVithout further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the forni, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

1. The method of reforming a rail joint bar having a rail engaging fishing surface with a worn depression therein, the same consisting in subjecting the said fishing surface. at points beyond the maximum depth of the worn depression, to an inwardly directed deforming pressure to displace the metal from such areas and redistribute it throughout the worn depression producing in the zone of the latter a new rail engaging bearing unit.

2. The method of reforming a rail joint bar having a head fishing surface with a worn depression therein, the same consisting in subjecting the said head fishing surface. at points beyond the maximum depth of the worn depression, to an inwardly directed deforming pressure to displace the metal from such areas and redistribute it throughout the worn depression producing in the zone of the latter a new rail engaging bearing unit.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

CLARKSON A. DISBROW. 

